


Some Sound Advice

by impish_nature



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: A heart to heart, Gen, Or as much of a heart to heart as these two can deal with, Pair of them need hugs, Post episode 75, cause Herschels Herschel, lots of swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 16:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15100316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impish_nature/pseuds/impish_nature
Summary: Sammy and Herschel have a heart to heart. Or, as close to one as they're physically capable of.There's a high chance Sammy won't follow any of Herschel’s advice. There's a high chance Herschel won't follow any of Sammy's either.Still- that won't stop them trying to make a point. (Post 75).





	Some Sound Advice

**Author's Note:**

> I love all the characters and all the characters need their moment after episode 75.

The night felt serener than Sammy felt it had any right to be.

There was a tranquil hush around him, the quiet breeze whistling through the leaves and the brush, the stars twinkling brightly above him, constellations mapped out across the sky and reflecting into the dark cold waters ahead.

And there in front of him sat a lone man, quiet and hunched, with a little lamp at the end of the dock, enveloped in a small bubble of light as if it would protect him from the dark.

"I've found him."

The whisper did nothing to alert him of his presence, if anything the man seemed lost, eyes zoned out across the water, following the line of his fishing rod as if it was his lifeline to the world, or perhaps the only line he had to another world altogether. Sammy slipped his phone back into his pocket after he'd made it clear where they were, his friends were stressed enough as it is, without making it harder for them all by going to ground as well.

They'd had enough of that, all of them had, after the night the radio tower was hit. Hearing that Herschel was nowhere to be found had given them all another layer of concern to mix in with the rest.

The dock creaked beneath his foot as he finally stepped out onto it. He held his breath, watching Herschel snap out of his reverie, shake himself even if he didn't turn around to greet him.

"Finally found my spot, hey, Ron?" Herschel sniffed, a gruff tone as he scrubbed at his face before turning around. He blinked, face slack, no smile to be found, nor the deep scowl that Sammy had become accustomed too since meeting him for the first time. "Oh. It's just you, Stevens. Well, you better not tell anyone where you found me."

Sammy smiled sadly. "Course not." He waited until Herschel rolled his eyes, jerking his head in a way that told him to jump to it and get over there already. His smile warmed at that, waiting for a snide remark that never came as he made his way to sit on the end of the dock beside him. "What are you doing out here, Herschel?"

"'Kind of question's that? I'm fucking fishing."

Sammy huffed, leaning his head back to look up at the stars. "You know what I meant." He shook his head when he got no reply other than an annoyed grunt, though his smile slipped along with it. "You know, Troy went to go check up on you."

"Ahh, that's how you found me. String bean still thinks he's a cop."

"Herschel-"

"What? I just came to spend a night fishing. That a crime, Shotgun?"

The words were defensive, waspish and abrupt but Sammy knew that they weren't meant for him- any of them really.

He tried not to take it personally, not when he knew he could be a lot worse if he really wanted to be. 

"No. Of course not. Troy just got worried when he went to the hospital and you weren't camped out in your usual spot." 

"Stupid kids. I'm fine. Don't need you lot chasing after me, like I'm some old man that can't-" He sighed, cutting himself off with a soft litany of curses, his shoulders hunching up round his ears as he reeled in his lure.

Sammy let him, biting down on any more questions as he watched him mutter darkly to himself. He waited, staring out across the water, listening to the hiss and clink as he cast back out, watched the ripples cascade out as the lure found it's mark and Herschel relaxed ever so slightly beside him again.

A sigh echoed out across the water, irritated and sad all at once.

"They realised I was camping there."

Sammy blinked at the candid words, the gruffness tight and more put on than usual. He didn't know whether to interrupt though, instead staying silent, staring away from him.

"They realised that night when- you know." His voice hitched higher for a second. "They tried to get me to leave the last few, but then they got fucking Gunderson and his goons to move me along. Brought a tow truck and everything." 

A flood of warm anger pooled in Sammy's stomach at the sentiment. "Can they even-"

"Who knows. Not like they gave two shits. Sons of bitches, the whole lot of em." Herschel spat into the water beside him, grip tightening on his rod before relaxing with a vicious grin. "You tell Troy I'll be backing him every step of the way, not that I wasn't anyway, but still." His face fell as he turned back to the water. "Anyway, couldn't go back to the hospital tonight, didn't feel like going home, thought this was the best place for me."

Sammy nodded, letting the words wash over him. "What about the boat?"

There was another beat of silence, the words somehow impossibly tighter than before. He hazarded a glance over at Herschel before darting his gaze away, the pain not quite open enough for either of them to feel comfortable with him seeing.

"...Don't feel right without Cecil."

"Oh."

The quiet was more strained than before after that, a tenseness to the air that spoke of a lot more than Sammy was sure Herschel would ever be willing to say.

He wondered if he regretted it, all that time they weren't speaking all because of a sponsorship, and all the to and fro arguments before that. 

He hoped not, they'd been friends in the end and that was what mattered. And Cecil wouldn't want him regretting things, not now, not when Herschel had done everything in his power to stay by his side all day and night, had broken every rule in the book to get to him when he needed him to the most, even if it had been too late.

"We'll- he'll be alright. You know that, don't you, Hersh?"

"Course I do." Herschel sniffed, sitting up straight. "Told you that before, myself. He's a tough old fuck and he's hanging in there. Blasted shadows aren't gonna take him down, not if I've got anything to say about it."

Sammy felt a different tenseness to the air this time, a sharpness to Herschel's gaze that almost begged him to ask about his earlier comments. To ask what he'd do if they couldn't win...

He made the very deliberate choice to keep his mouth shut.

Instead he nodded wordlessly. Took a shaking breath in at his own easy acceptance of Herschel's words, as if beating back the shadows was something he had any hope in doing. As if he thought they had any chance in succeeding, after everything that had happened. 

Herschel seemed to catch something too in his expression. His sharpness softening, even as his scowl appeared, in a way that Sammy could only describe as gruff disappointment clouding his expression.

For some reason it made his heart lurch painfully.

"Speaking of shadows, Stevens. I think we have other things to talk about."

"Now, Herschel-"

"Don't ' _Herschel_ ' me. Your Dad voice might work on Arnold but I'm at least twice your age, you little shit." The look Herschel levelled him with would have made the plants around them shrivel if it could. "You're a damn fool, you know that?"

"I've been given that impression by everyone so far, yes." The words came out almost jovial, though Sammy couldn't help the way his hands tightened into the edge of the pontoon, the way his shoulders hunched and his head bowed as he felt the glare burn into the back of his head.

"Don't put that voice on with me either."

"What voice would that be?"

"Your darn radio voice. Pretending it don't matter when it does." Herschel growled, cursing another blue streak before he seemed to reign it in. "I thought I told you that this world needed all the good men it could get?"

"That's not very-"

"Don't  _sass_  me, Stevens. I meant what I said to you that night. I needed you to watch my back and you came through." He kicked out, nudging Sammy's shoulder with his boot. "I thought it was damn well implicit that it worked the other way round too."

Sammy didn't respond, too busy determinedly staring at the ripples in the lake.

Herschel sighed again, a deep, sadder sigh that didn't fit him in Sammy's books.

He got another kick to make up for it though.

"We ain't ready to lose you yet, Stevens. You or Cecil."

Sammy gulped before he could respond, his throat constricting with a wave of emotion left behind by the last few exhausting days. "...Believe me, everyone's making that  _quite_  clear."

"I bet they are. Surprised you were allowed out here on your own to come find me."

Herschel snorted at the strangled disgruntled noise he made in response, reeling his line in a bit as he waited out his spluttering.

"Can I give you some advice, Stevens?"

Sammy sighed, a mock exasperated sound as he leaned back on his hands. "I feel like you'll give it to me whether I say yes or no at this point."

"Oh, stop being such a smartass,  _Shotgun_  and listen here." Herschel rolled his eyes, his scowl well and truly on his face as he waited for Sammy to finally look at him. "Now, I'm pretty sure you know by now how much I loved my Edna. Heck, I miss her every day. But you know what she'd do if I took a swan dive off the end of this pier?"

Sammy's stomach twisted nauseatingly at the mere suggestion. "Don't-"

"I'm not finished, Shotgun. If I tried to meet my maker early, just to be with her, you know what she'd do?" He gave him a beady eyed stare, locking eyes with him. "She'd kick my ass is what she'd do. Probably kick me back to life if she could."

Sammy laughed, a shocked hysterical sound. "She sounds like quite the woman."

"Damn right, she was." Herschel's scowl shifted into a proud smile. "Damn right. And you know what? I reckon if your man loves you half as much as you love him, he'd kick your ass just as hard."

Sammy swallowed in response, the lump in his throat tight and constricting as he pulled away from Herschel's determined and stern gaze. He gulped, tried to push the lump down a few times unsuccessfully before his windpipe finally let him talk without the chance of cracking. Herschel remained quiet, let him deal with his emotions without a word and Sammy couldn't be more grateful for that. "Point taken."

"No point, just some advice, remember?" 

Sammy laughed, a choked sound, more of a hiccup of emotion as he shook his head. "I'm not sure I know what the advice in that was."

"Sure, you do. Do some stupid, reckless shit like that again and you'll get your ass beat whether you survive or not."

He did laugh properly that time, a shocked burst of energy at Herschel's bluntness. "OK, yeah, that's sound advice."

"See? Wasn't so hard to get, now was it. Guess you're smarter than you look." Herschel's grin grew victoriously toothy as Sammy shoved his still nudging foot away from his arm. "Not too smart, mind, considering what you've been up to but hopefully at least smart enough not to make the same mistake twice." 

"I'll try my best."

"You better do more than that, Stevens." Herschel's grin fell back into a frown, eyebrows furrowed deeply. He waited for Sammy to respond, but all he got was a shrug, his eyes cast out across the water.

He was about to snarl out another string of curses at him when the words fell from his mouth and off the end of the pontoon.

"I'm not ready to leave yet, not anymore."

Herschel wound in his line some more, eyes on his reel as Sammy sniffed, pulling himself up straight, deciding once more that some moments of weakness should be left as they were.

"Don't think I'd be able to make the same mistake twice anyway." Sammy's smile wavered, plastered on like a mask that came with that voice of his. "When you said about people having my back, I didn't think that meant people always watching it from now on."

Herschel huffed. "Yeah well. Watching people's back means protecting them even from themselves. And-" He spoke louder as Sammy opened his mouth to argue. "You can't talk. I heard you do the same with Ben. You weren't about to let him obsess himself into an early grave, now were you?"

Sammy's mouth closed with a sharp snap, his expression calculating as if the dots hadn't aligned before that moment. "I guess not."

"Guess, my ass." Herschel continued to stare down at his rod, even as Sammy's eyes burned a hole in his head. His next words came out quietly, in the same manner that Sammy's had before. "So, you best not give any of em stick for watching yours now, otherwise you'll have me to deal with."

He glanced up at Sammy for barely a second, watched him nod in response before turning back towards the water, eyes drifting upwards to the sky again.

The serene hush took over once more between them, more peaceful than it had been before, the open air and open atmosphere somehow lightening the darkness that was the last few days for both of them.

A small bubble of light, against the world.

"Hey, Herschel, can I give you some advice too?"

Herschel hummed, a noncommittal and already half irritated sound. "...I'll bite. Not that I have high hopes."

Sammy ignored the jab, his mouth a thin, serious line though he preferred to look at Herschel from his peripherals instead of headlong, just in case of the impending fallout. "I'm pretty sure Cecil will kick your ass if he wakes up and finds out you haven't been looking after yourself the entire time he's been out for the count."

"Cecil couldn't kick my ass if he tried." The words held no real heat behind them, just the affronted answer that needed to be said before he took the matter seriously. The comment lacked a lot more though, his shoulders drooping just slightly, the words tired and accepting in a way Sammy had never expected, at least not so quickly. "...But I guess that's good advice, Shotgun."

"See? I can give good advice too." He couldn't help but try to lighten the mood again, a flare of guilt washing through him at the suddenly contemplative man beside him.

Herschel huffed, rolling his eyes as his voice turned sharp again. "Yeah, yeah, once in a blue moon. I won't hold my breath for any more nuggets of wisdom in the near future."

"Damn. Well, I hope I made this one count then."

Herschel gave him another sharp gaze, though this time he refused to be quelled by it, smiling as innocently as he possibly could as the other struggled to come up with a good enough answer.

"Oh, stop looking so smug, you little shit. I told you I got it. But if you think I'm just gonna jump up, tail between my legs you've got another thing coming."

"Herschel..."

"What? I said I fucking got it. Let me have my night of fishing like I planned." Herschel shifted awkwardly in his seat, as if aggravated at being made to explain himself to anyone, let alone him of all people. "If it'll make you stop whining at me like that, I'll have you know that when visiting hours end tomorrow, they won't have any trouble with me leaving." He scowled at him again, mouth twisting darkly. "Well? You happy? Or do I need to kick you off the end of this pontoon to get you to quit it?"

"Hey. I'm not going to complain at a compromise. Anything's better than nothing."

"Thank fuck for that." 

Sammy couldn't help the chuckle at the relieved growl as Herschel settled back into his chair. He kept his mouth shut, not risking pushing him any further on the subject. It was a sore spot that was for sure, and he couldn't blame him for that.

He was just happy that his words had gotten through at all.

"You wanna learn how to fish, Sammy?"

There was a hint of a moment when Sammy sat there, hearing the unsaid words. The  _Do you mind sitting up with me?_  But it vanished before another dawning realisation, a bright gleeful grin forming across his face in amusement. "Did you just call me-"

"I don't know what you're talking about,  _Stevens_. Now do you wanna learn how to fish or not?" Herschel sniffed loudly, his words sharp and gruff once more.

"Why not? If I'm going to learn from anyone it might as well be the best."

"Damn straight- and you best not tell anyone what I teach you, or there'll be fucking hell to pay."

"Oh, trust me, I don't doubt that for a second."

 


End file.
